MP demands Stafford A&E reopens

The A&E department at Stafford Hospital must reopen around the clock in October, the town's political heavyweights demanded today.

Jeremy Lefroy MP and council leader Mike Heenan said it would be unacceptable if the overnight closure was extended again.

They claimed patience was wearing thin and the loss of Stafford's A&E had left a "black hole" in healthcare.

The department, which shut between 10pm and 8am from December 1 last year, had been due to restore full-time services in June but the move was put back at the last minute.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Lynn Hill-Tout said she cannot guarantee the safety of patients overnight because of staffing shortages.

A recruitment drive for consultants and middle grade doctors was launched and five senior and seven middle grade doctors are expected to be in place by October.

Mr Lefroy said today: "With the recruitment of the necessary staff and the training which has been going on, there should be no reason to delay reopening 24/7 beyond October.

"A safe 24/7 service at Stafford is essential both for the people of Stafford, Cannock and the surrounding areas and for the health service in the region.

"I was disappointed that it could not reopen this month but I fully understand the need to ensure that the service is sustainable. It would make no sense to reopen before it is ready, and the judgment of the senior clinical staff was that it was not ready."

Councillor Heenan meanwhile said the hospital served 300,000 people in Stafford and Cannock Chase, as well as the M6 motorway.

"If you look at where the other hospitals are positioned on the map there is a black hole in the system overnight," he said.

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